Tranquil
by Pinkmochiqueen
Summary: Chat warns Lady Bug not to bring a tranquilizer gun along on a mission. Things go wrong as expected and Chat receives a shock. How will he deal with his new found knowledge?
1. Asleep

"Hey, could we maybe go without the tranq. gun?" Chat said, backing up.

Lady hefted it over her shoulder. "No can do. The only way we can tackle something that size is with this." She turned to the zookeeper who was wringing his hands and looking out the dirty windows. "Thanks for this, I'll return it as soon as we de-akumanize your son."

"Be gentle with him, won't you?" he met her eyes, deep with worry. "I don't remember what it's like to be possessed, but I'm sure it wasn't fun."

"Of course," Lady affirmed.

Chat and Lady Bug walked out of the zoo and surveyed the street. There were no unusual sounds coming from anywhere anymore. The street was pretty empty for a weekend, but it was still early.

"Let's get on a roof," Chat suggested.

They found a fire escape on a nearby building and began to climb. Chat went first, agile and quick. Lady Bug followed, towing the large tranquilizer gun on her back and struggling to maintain balance. Chat grabbed her arm and pulled her up on the roof.

"So," Chat began. "What does this kid call himself?"

Lady smiled, "Well, his name is Tom, but he calls himself the WarRhino."

The sun was just rising over Paris making the rooftops glow red like fire as they walked to the edge of the building.

"That's so cheesy," Chat said. "I could have come up with a better name than that."

"Says the boy who's called Black Cat," Lady teased poking his chest.

"Says the girl who's called Lady Bug!" Chat cried trying to poke her back but she maneuvered around his finger and laughed.

"I never said his name was cheesy-"

There was a boom from across the city, and their heads immediately swung in the direction of the sound. A plume of smoke swirled high into the sky.

"There!" she cried. "He must be at someone's house from the look of it."

Lady Bug pulled the gun around to check the needle and Chat jumped back.

"What's the deal?" Lady said. "Why are you so scared of this thing?"

Chat straightened from his defensive pose and crossed his arms. "My Lady, have you never seen an movie before? Usually, if there's a tranquilizer gun, the person who gets shot is not the target."

Lady laughed, "Oh kitty cat, you watch way too many cartoons. It has the safety on. Besides, don't you trust me?"

Chat's face changed and he bowed and took Lady's free hand, spun her around and dipped her like they were dancing the tango. They were nose to nose as he said, "I would trust you with my life, Lady."

Lady Bug couldn't help it, heat rose up to her cheeks. His eyes suddenly that close spurred feelings in her, no matter how much she told herself otherwise. It wasn't right to feel this way when you had a crush on someone else. Was it?

"Lady?" Chat said cautiously as he straightened.

Lady Bug remembered herself and smiled as she always did when this happened.

 _Pretend to shake it off, it's nothing._

"We better get going," she said.

Chat nodded, "Yeah, of course."

And they were off. They bounded off walls and over rooftops, Chat keeping a close eye on Lady Bug's expression the whole time. He was used to her brushing off his attempts at flirting. Still, he couldn't help but watch her face to maybe glimpse a hint that she was hiding her true feelings. Chat always carried that hope in him.

He didn't even realize that they arrived at their destination until Lady came to an immediate halt, causing Chat to trip over himself and tumble into a crouching cat position.

"Of course," Lady sighed. "It's the mayor's house."

Chat turned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Don't you think it's kind of suspicious that the akuminized people keep going after Chloe?" Chat speculated.

"Not really," Lady smiled to herself.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, clearly whatever is causing these possessions is always seeking revenge against her. It's not hard to believe that she spurs that kind of emotion in people, is it?" Lady said.

Chat nodded. "Makes sense. She almost made me do her homework once."

"She almost makes me want to turn around and let the Akuma do what it wants with her, doesn't she?" she laughed.

Chat smiled, "Hey, who's the real villain here?"

They made their way inside, but the place was deserted. As always the mansion looked spotless and bright. The only imperfection was the gaping hole leading to the kitchen.

"I don't think anyone's home," said Lady. "Maybe the WarRhino left too." She turned to Chat who was frowning and listening to the air intently.

Lady shrugged and began walking towards the hole when Chat grabbed her arm and pulled her up to him.

"Hey!"

"Shhh," he tightened his grip. "Don't you think it's too quiet?" he whispered close to her ear.

"He probably moved to another room if he's still here," she managed to say under her breath.

Chat stayed quiet but didn't let go of Lady's arm.

"You might be right," he finally said. "I don't hear anything."

He relaxed and released his grip, and she had to stop herself from being a little disappointed that he was letting go.

"I guess he's not here-" Chat began and then a heavy gust of wind hit their necks. It was moist and warm, like someone's breath.

"Oh. There he is," he said without turning around.

"Look out!" Lady yelled, but it was too late, WarRhino reared it enormous head and knocked Chat in the air. He gave out a cat-like screech as he went tumbling.

The creature turned to Lady then and barreled towards her. She evaded just in time but something fell from her arms.

Chat landed on his hands and feet and looked up to realize that Lady didn't have the gun. Searching the room, he found it right underneath the WarRhino.

"This kid doesn't mess around," Chat said.

"What do you expect from a boy who chose to turn into a rhino," said Lady from across the room.

Chat smiled slyly. "I still have more muscles than him, though." He flexed and Lady rolled her eyes.

Chat ran up to the WarRhino, whose attention was on Lady Bug and slid right between his massive legs.

"Nice one!" Lady cried out as Chat swept the gun from the floor and stopped in front of the monster boy.

"Not so nice from this position," he said as he scurried up and away quickly before being trampled. He tossed the tranquilizer to Lady with a wink and she readied it.

Another roar and the WarRhino was charging again.

"Fire!" Chat screamed and Lady pulled the trigger.

Click. Click.

Click. Click. Click.

"What?" she said.

WarRhino ran full on into her and pushed her into the air. She landed less gracefully than Chat but not too painfully.

"The gun's empty!" Lady said rubbing her butt as she stood up. "I'll handle this guy, you figure out what happened to the needle," and she somersaulted and landed across the room on top of a table.

Chat backed up into the doorway and surveyed the lobby. There was no trace of a needle.

It was only when the world began to tilt that he realized where it was. Chat looked down at his own leg.

Just as he thought. It was lodged in his thigh.

"Great," Chat said.

He continued to back up into the next room and flipped over a chair by accident. All he could see now was the ceiling which began to swirl into different shapes and figures.

"Ugh, here it comes. Just like the movies."

First it was Paris, made of flames and shadows burning on the ceiling before him. The city extinguished and transformed into the night sky with hundreds of twinkling stars, each as bright as the next. They began to dance and form circles and shapes until finally the stars swirled and formed into Lady Bug's face, smiling down at him. He reached his arm up to touch her, but his arms were made of lead. He resolved in just looking.

"Lucky charm!" was all Chat heard as the world blurred and went dark.

... ... ...

Adrien woke up batting his eyes trying to see where he was. It felt cold and the lights seemed to be out.

"Lady Bug?" he called.

There was no answer.

He heard Plegg fly up to him from somewhere.

"There's a light switch over there," Plegg said and then flew off again.

"Why didn't you turn it on?" Adrien protested as he stood up slowly. His muscles were heavy and slow, the medicine still having an affect on him. He felt the walls and slid his hands up and down until he found the light switch.

Turning around, he realized why Plegg was so lazy. They were in a food storage closet, which he and Lady agreed was a good place if they were close to detransforming during a mission.

"Glad to see that you're any help," he said to Plegg. He didn't respond as there was an entire wheel of cheese in his mouth.

Adrien pressed his ear against the metal door and listened. Someone was snoring on the other side.

"Must be Lady," Adrien murmured.

He turned to Plegg, "Time to transform."

Plegg protested something unintelligible but was sucked into Adrien's ring anyway.

Fully transformed again, he stepped up to the door. Pressing against the cold metal he pushed and it gave way immediately and swung open.

The mansion was in perfect condition and the hole in the wall was gone. It looked like the Mayor and his daughter was still not home even though it was already mid afternoon.

Chat smiled at his luck and almost missed the sleeping girl on the floor.

"Huh?" he looked down and there she was with a Kwami sleeping on her stomach.

It was Marinette.


	2. Obvious

Marinette woke up on the floor of Chloe's house. She sat up and turned to the door of the food locker.

"I must have fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up," she murmured standing up.

She almost forgot what she was doing there.

Earlier that evening, once Marinette defeated the WarRhino, she had run over to Chat in the next room and realized he was unconscious. She had placed him in the food locker so when he woke, his Kwami could eat and he could turn back.

Protocol.

When WarRhino was Tom again he said he could manage to get home just fine. Marinette had let him leave and sat down in front of the food locker to wait.

Checking her watch now, it was getting late, and still no Chloe at the mansion. Marinette figured that the little princess was somewhere holidaying with her family for the weekend.

She turned to the food locker and knocked on the door now. "Chat?" she said. "Chat are you in there?"

"Yes Lady," he said. His voice gave something away, like a feigned ease. "I'm here. Everything's fine."

Marinette smiled, "Good, I was worried you'd be out for too long. I'm going to transform now, okay? I'll let you know when you can come out."

"Okie dokie," Chat said nervously.

Marinette wanted to press further, but something in her held her back. She looked around and found Tiki still asleep on the floor. She gave her a little nudge and Tiki woke up and rubbed her eyes.

"Psst Tiki," Marinette said calmly. "Spots on please."

Tiki sighed but had enough energy to allow Marinette to transform.

Chat was oddly quiet on their way out of the building as they walked into the cool Paris air. The sun was low in the sky and close to setting soon. Lady Bug looked at him and tried to see if his face would give anything away. In the evening glow, his eyes were bright and the orange played in his hair beautifully. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"Sooo," Lady said, "Wanna know where that kid's Akuma was?"

Chat didn't hear, but she went on. "It was in his shoe. How weird is that? Remember those Mark Echoes from years ago? I guess that's what inspired the Rhino. That and the fact that his dad works at the zoo." She noticed that she was rambling and stopped herself.

"Chat? Are you okay?" she said tenderly. They were near an empty alleyway now. They slipped inside and Lady leaned against the wall.

Chat looked at her. Really looked at her. Lady Bug felt like he could see right past the mask, and then he smiled. "It's nothing. I just feel a bit guilty about something."

Lady put her hands on her hips. "Don't worry about the tranquilizer gun! You were right, someone was going to get hit. It's okay that you got knocked out. It happens to the best of us," she said.

Chat wasn't talking about that, but for Lady's sake, he pretended he was.

"Good," he said. "I'd hate to leave you there all alone." He smiled then quickly leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

She looked startled by the sudden forwardness and Chat laughed. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Good night, my lovely Lady," and he was off.

Before she could say anything else he was climbing to the roof of an apartment building and cartwheeling into the distance.

Lady couldn't help but smile to herself. "That cheeky kitty."

... ... ... ...

Later in his room, Adrien was pacing back and forth. "It makes so much sense!" he said.

"She's always so shy around me. Maybe she suspects that I'm Chat!"

Plegg flew out from his backpack, carrying with him a bag of Cheetos.

"Funny," Plegg said. "I just thought she had a crush on you."

Plegg opened the giant bag and jumped in cannon ball style. Cheeto dust sprang into the air like a puff of smoke.

Adrien looked at Plegg. "Don't be silly," he said. "She can't have a crush on me, she can barely speak to me."

Plegg climbed to the top of the bag and just looked at him.

Adrien went on. "I mean I wish Marinette talked to me more. She's so funny and sweet when she talks to Alya and Nino."

Adrien sat on the edge of his bed and started to remove his shoes and socks. He could feel the adrenaline in his blood, more prevalent now than on any mission he's been on in his life.

"And if she did like me… and I've been in love with Lady Bug…" he looked up with disbelief. "We've liked each other the whole time! But neither of us knew because we were different versions of ourselves!" he cried. Adrien was standing up now with no recollection of making that action.

Plegg was deep inside the large bag of Cheetos again but giggling could be heard from inside.

Adrien walked over and lifted the bag up to eye level.

"What are you laughing at?" he said.

In between bouts of laughter, he managed to say, "It's just so ironic. The two strongest heroes in Paris are also the blindest!" And with that, he fell back into the bag laughing.

Adrien dropped the Cheetos and turned around. "Keep it up, and next time I'll buy salt and vinegar chips instead."

Plegg gasped from within the crumbs and then was silent.

Adrien left the room and made his way down the cold house. It was particularly quiet today which meant his father must have been home. For some reason whenever Mr. Agreste was home, Adrien felt lonelier than ever. At least now he had these thoughts to occupy him.

He entered the bathroom, turned on the shower, and looked at himself in the mirror as he thought to himself while waiting for the water to get hot.

Adrien did feel guilty that he now knew what Lady Bug tried so hard to conceal. He just didn't get it. It's been so long that they were partners. Why wouldn't she want to know his identity? What did she fear? It couldn't be that she thought he'd betray her, could it?

These questions swirled in his head until the mirror began to fog up. With that, Adrien ended his questions for the night and stepped into the shower.

Adrien had a decision to make that next morning when he walked into class.

It wasn't until he walked in that the decision was made for him.

He didn't expect it, but his heart began to beat hard and loud in his chest when he saw Marinette sitting at her desk. His heart leaped when he realized that Alya wasn't sitting next to her, but next to Nino.

Perfect.

Alya made eye contact with him first and gave a big friendly smile and wave.

"Sorry, Adrien! Nino and I are planning a trip to the zoo so I took your seat," she said lightly.

Adrien had no problem with this at all.

He noticed something else too. Marinette looked up at Alya fearfully for less than a second but long enough for him to catch Alya giving her a knowing look. He wondered if he'd ever missed that before.

"No problem, Alya," Adrien smiled back, touching the desk that Marinette was sitting at. "Just don't visit the Rhino."

At this, Marinette looked up at him questioningly and Adrien stuttered. "C-cause um. I heard one of them was acting up. On the news." He looked back down at her and she returned her gaze back to her sketch pad.

Smooth.

Alya responded with a quick, "Noted," and went back to her conversation with Nino.

The class was bustling and loud that morning. Chloe was at her desk across the room loudly bragging about having visited the London Eye that weekend. She was totally unawares that anyone was even at her house last night. Something in him praised every star in the sky that she was not Lady Bug.

Adrien walked around the desk and sat down next to Marinette, and placed his backpack on the floor.

"Good morning, Miss Marinette," he said cheerfully.

Marinette stared at her sketchpad, wide-eyed.

Oh my God, Adrien thought. Plegg was right.

Marinette finally looked up at him and smiled too wide.

"Morning!" she looked terrified. This was the girl who saved Paris every night. He couldn't help but find it incredibly cute.

Adrien was about to continue speaking when the teacher began class. He'd save it for later.

The whole entire lecture, Adrien felt Marinette next to him. She was much stiffer than usual.

He stared at her secretly the entire time, trying to see the similarities between her and her alternate persona.

He kicked himself hard for not realizing that their hair was the exact same style. How did that escape his notice?

Plegg wasn't kidding about being blind, either. Then again. I am the only blonde boy here, and she hasn't noticed me, he thought to himself.

He didn't hear the bell ring and was surprised by everyone standing up and packing. He nearly missed Marinette as she was making her way to the door at lightning speed.

"Wait!" he called out and she turned as if she'd been hit by lightning instead.

"Y-yes?" she stuttered.

"Um," he didn't plan what he was going to say, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Alya and Nino are going to the Zoo today. I thought maybe we could go somewhere together?" Since our best friends are taken," he nervously scratched the back of his head and smiled.

She stood there stunned and for a good long while Adrien swore she wasn't going to respond at all.

Finally, she realized she wasn't saying anything and spoke.

"Sure. What do you want to do?"

Adrien walked around the desk and stood in front of her now.

"Video games?" he suggested.

Marinette nodded, "Okay."

Adrien leaned in close enough to remain friendly. "It's a date," he said and walked away.

He turned back just in time to see Marinette gaping after him, and gave her a wave goodbye.

 **... ... .. .. ... ... ...**

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	3. Fille amoureuseGarçon amoureux

She was terrified, to say the least. Marinette stood in front of her closet mirror and appraised her tenth possible outfit for that evening.

"This feels too casual," she said, twisting and turning to get a good view. "Why did I even buy this shirt, it's hideous!"

Tiki was sitting on top of her wardrobe and kicking her tiny feet back and forth.

"Do you think it's ugly, or do you think Adrien will think it's ugly?" she said looking down at Marinette.

"I don't know!" Marinette sat on the floor of her room defeated. "I'm not just going to wear my everyday school outfit to hang out with Adrien, but I hardly wear anything else. All my other clothes are either too fancy or practically pajamas!"

She looked at her sad reflection staring back in the mirror. Her hair was out of their pig-tails and messy over her shoulders.

Looking down at her hands she noticed the red nail polish was chipping.

"Ugh, this is a disaster," she said bitterly to herself.

Tiki flew down from the dresser and onto the floor in front of Marinette.

"You look fine. Just put on outfit number five, it was really pretty!" Tiki offered.

Marinette pushed herself off the ground and turned to the pile of crumpled clothes on her bedspread. She rummaged through until she found the long sleeved shirt and jeans Tiki suggested.

"Do you think the butterflies are too childish?" she said over her shoulder to the little fairy. Tiki only shook her head, exasperated.

"I know how silly I sound," sighed Marinette. "I'm just really nervous," she sighed. "I think Adrien really meant this to be a date, but I can't tell. People say _It's a date!_ all of the time as a figure of speech but…" Her eyes drifted beyond the pile of clothes and she remembered earlier today as if it were happening again. Adrien's eyes so close to hers… something so familiar and warm about them.

"And the way he looked at me," she said quietly as if only meant for herself to hear.

She didn't notice Tiki flying up to her and hugging her shoulder. "Oh, my fille amoureuse. Wear what you'd like, but hurry because it's almost six o'clock."

Marinette gasped looking at the clock and ran to the bathroom.

"I'm going to be late!" she cried and began to comb her hair back into her trademark style.

… … … … … …

Adrien was bouncing off the walls. He got ready the moment he got to his room which was already in perfect condition. The maids cleaned his room every morning but that did not stop him. He dusted the already clean shelves and swept the sparkling tiles. Plagg hovered over in a corner, avoiding the whirlwind of a boy that was Adrien at the moment.

"Boy, oh boy," he said to himself. "Un garçon amoureux is not one to be intercepted."

Adrien did not hear anything but his own mind spinning with questions and things to say to Marinette. He began setting up the video game console system for the fifth time to make sure it would work properly tonight.

Plagg did have something bugging him, however, and had to intercept despite himself.

"Adrien, listen here."

Adrien looked up from the Nintendo and at his fairy. "What? I'm a little busy here."

Plagg flew down and looked Adrien right in the eye. "I know you love Lady Bug with all your heart, but be forewarned."

The small cat like fairy looked suddenly stern and important.

Adrien laughed. He couldn't imagine his silly little Kwami looking so cross.

"Why the sudden scholarly diction, my friend?"

Plagg sighed, "Adrien this is actually important. You love Lady Bug, right?"

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course."

"But you have hardly noticed Marinette before you knew who she was. I know I laughed before but listen, you should really learn to love her for her and not her alter ego."

Plagg normally didn't have such important lectures to give but he seemed to be worried about this. Adrien wondered if Plagg ever loved someone before, or if a fairy even could.

He put the Nintendo down and took Plagg into his hands, smiling softly.

"You don't seem to know me as well as you think. Do you really think I'm just going to forget that Marinette is her own person?"

Plagg shrugged.

Adrien went on. "When I'm Chat, I am still myself but I am a little different. Behind a mask, anyone is different. This is why I decided to ask her over, so I can get to know the girl behind the mask. Then I will know for sure if this love is real, understand?"

Plagg stood on his hand wide-eyed for a moment.

"You are quite mature for a teenager, do you know that?" he finally said. "I'm proud of you, my superhero, you," and with that Plagg hugged Adrien and flew off into his closet where the cheeses were kept.

Adrien looked back at the console and left it alone on the ground. He got up and walked over to the mirror and thought about what Plagg had said.

Adrien was making sure that this was real love and not an infatuation with Lady Bug after all, but it was something else too. He wanted to know if Marinette liked him, and not just romantically. Well, romantically too but…

She was the second friend he made while at school and she was always the sweetest, but the shyest. They hadn't spoken much over the last couple of months but he wished they had. That day when he lent her his umbrella he swore he saw something in her eyes that drew him to her. She'd been so aloof since then that he didn't think much of it. Plagg might have been right about her having a crush on him but it was still wishful thinking.

He wanted to make sure.

He was so lost in his thinking that he jumped at the knock on the door from Natalie.

"A- um, visitor, Mr. Agreste?" she said from the door.

His father hardly ever allowed for this sort of thing to happen. The only times Adrien and Nino hung out were at Nino's house and with the perimeter secured by his bodyguards. The house tended to be a no-no for hanging out, but his father left early that morning for some reason and Natalie was being generous.

She leaned into his room. "Do not let your father find out about this," she whispered and allowed Marinette into his room.

Natalie disappeared from view and Marinette walked in alone with a large duffel bag stuffed with what looked like boxes from the outside.

Adrien couldn't help his heart from beating hard, despite Plagg's voice in his head telling him to not be hasty about his feelings.

Her own face looked nervous but normal, she was smiling.

"Hey, Adrien," she said standing in front of the door.

Adrien never felt so paralyzed by nerves but he breathed out and remembered who this was. It was just Lady Bug, his partner in crime and it was also just Marinette, his friend from school.

His beautiful friend from school. How had he never noticed how big and beautiful her eyes were? He breathed in and out again.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

"Hey, Marinette," he said, "So, what video games do you like to play?"

Leading her into the room, he showed her a place to put down her bag which, when she unzipped it, revealed to have been filled with snacks from the bakery.

"Hmmm, that's a good question," Marinette said setting down the bag and removing a container.

Adrien walked over to the television to turn it on and sort through the games he had on file. He glanced back at Marinette all the while.

Before she answered his question she looked over a particular container filled with croissants.

"My parents are so embarrassing," she blushed, removing the lid and filling the air around them with the smell of freshly baked dough. "They gave me half the bakery just because I was going on a date- um day out with a friend."

Adrien stood up and walked over to her again.

"Don't feel bad about it," he said. "I love the stuff from your parents bakery."

He took a croissant from plastic Tupperware and bit into it happily and closed his eyes.

Marinette giggled and looked at the rest of the treats.

"I guess these will go to good use after all," she said.

Adrien opened his eyes and looked at her, forgetting to say anything. She noticed the prolonged look and blushed, looking away.

"Mario Kart," she said.

"Huh?" he said, his mouth full.

"Mario Kart," she said again, running over to the controllers on the shelf. "We should play that."

Adrien blinked and then nodded, "Sounds like fun."

… … …

Marinette looked at Adrien eating the croissants that were in the oven not too long ago. He looked so sweet and blissful with crumbs all over his mouth.

He said that he loved the food at her family bakery, which made her feel warm inside. She liked to imagine that he ordered from them often, even though she was normally the delivery girl and never saw him on her runs. She wondered if he was the destination on one of her parent's trips.

She looked at the pile of plastic filled with desserts and sighed with relief that they would not go to waste. She was worried that Adrien would think that her family was crazy for giving her so much to bring.

She looked up at him and noticed that he was smiling down at her. His eyes twinkled in a certain way that made her blush.

"Mario Kart," she heard herself stammer.

Adrien was confused for a moment there and she reminded him of his question from earlier by running over to where the controllers were.

Butterflies were filling up her stomach again and she needed to calm herself down. Tiki told her to just remember that Adrien was her friend and that there was no need to be so nervous around him. Of course, no one could control the feelings of being so close to your crush, not even a magical fairy.

Adrien grabbed a couple of the containers, stacked them on his arms, and sat in front of the television again. He began to open more of them so that they could eat them later and the room grew heavier with the smell of the bakery. Marinette loved that smell, it reminded her so much of her own home. She liked the thought that her world was mixing with Adrien's.

He turned to look at her and pointed out the remotes they'd need for this particular game. She grabbed the two remotes off of the shelf lined with at least fifty controllers. None of the cables were tangled, in fact, hardly any of them even had cables.

"Oh, and can you set the lighting to evening?" Adrien said as she handed him the controllers.

"The what?" Marinette asked.

Adrien looked at her for a moment and looked like he remembered something and was embarrassed by it. He probably realized that normally people only had two settings on their lights; on and off.

"Um, right behind you. You see the middle one? Yeah, that one."

Marinette clicked it and instantly the room lights dimmed to the perfect amount of light and the television shone just bright enough.

"Woah," Marinette said as she sat next to Adrien.

Adrien looked down, his face red. "My dad installed like five different settings in my room so I can practice modeling with different lighting," he played with his sock. "I honestly just use it for better lighting when I play games or read."

Marinette put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up surprised.

"I have mood lighting next to my bed in my lava lamp. I got it on a trip to Amsterdam with my family," she said kindly.

Adrien looked incredibly grateful that she tried to relate to him, and he looked comfortable again.

"That's really cool," he said.

They continued to talk about places they've traveled to. Marinette traveled for family reasons, Adrien for work, but they glossed over that part.

The floor in front of the television was covered in a thick carpet, comfortable enough to be a bed. Marinette was reminded how different Adrien had it from everyone else at school. Maybe being this famous teen model wasn't all that great when you felt so alienated from everyone else. She wondered how many people even got to sit where she was sitting now. No one ever talked about going to Adrien's house. She couldn't even remember if Nino mentioned being here.

She looked at his face now and saw how happy he was loading the game on the screen. She wondered how grateful he felt to have a friend over today.

Marinette connected her remote and bumped his shoulder lightly with her fist.

"Hey! I wanted to be Dry Bones!" she laughed, feeling the tension from earlier ease up.

Adrien bumped her shoulder back. "I don't think so! He's the most aerodynamic!"

Both of their cursors hovered over the character.

"Fine," she said turning her sitting position to face him. "We both have to choose a character that isn't him."

His eyes narrowed, but with a smile on his face, "Deal, but no cheating or I will take all the croissants."

She bit her smile away unsuccessfully. She could feel that he was being flirtatious and she didn't know what to do about it. Strangely, she wasn't scared. It felt like she was used to this kind of flirtation from somewhere else.

They both turned to the screen and made their selections with their eyes closed. When Adrien opened his eyes he fell back laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" she cried.

Adrien was in tears of laughter and couldn't compose himself.

"You chose Wario?! He's the exact opposite of aerodynamic!" he laughed.

Marinette giggled as well.

"I thought it would be ironic."

Adrien's laugh was the most beautiful thing that Marinette ever heard. She loved seeing him filled with so much joy. He sat back up, still cracking up as he made his selection. Marinette laughed this time at his choice.

"Waluigi?" she looked at him questioningly.

Adrien pointed at himself. "If you're going to be Wario, I'm going to be his partner." There was something in the way he said that that held more weight than Marinette understood.

"Besides," he went on, "he's as aerodynamic as Dry Bones."

She hit him playfully on the arm again. "Adrien! You cheated!"

They laughed again and played a few laps of the game. Marinette beat him most of the time but he got to her in the last two rounds. As the night went on he edged closer to where she sat which made her lose her concentration.

As they played they had their fill of macaroons and croissants. By the time the last lap rolled around, they were so full they had to lay down on the carpet floor and just relax for a while.

…. …. ….

"Adrien, you didn't tell me you had stars on your ceiling," Marinette said quietly in awe.

Earlier that evening he was beginning to feel bad about all the gadgets he had that he knew no other teenager had. Maybe Chloe shared that with him but she prided herself on being better and different from the kids in school.

Marinette made him feel at ease and she sounded amazed now at the latest one she found.

The ceiling was dotted with hundreds of tiny lights that flickered and shone like bright distant stars. Some were brighter than others and some were only a faint haze. They looked so realistic that anyone who didn't know any better would think the roof was removed and that there was a blackout in Paris allowing for these stars to be seen so clearly.

"My mother had them installed when I was younger than I can remember," he said quietly. "I look up at them when I can't sleep. If you look closely, shooting stars are programmed to shoot out randomly across the room."

Mariette searched around trying to catch one.

"They're so pretty," she sighed.

Adrien wasn't looking at the stars on the ceiling, he was looking at Marinette. They had so much fun playing games and eating and joking with each other. He had half forgotten to remember that she was Lady Bug. They were so obviously one and the same person. He occasionally kicked himself for being so stupid as not to notice. She was so kind and brave and smart. He couldn't tell the difference between them now. Then again, she had never been this confident with him before.

He wished with all his heart he could go back in time and just talk to the shy girl who sat behind him. He would have realized sooner that she was the same girl behind the mask that he had fallen in love with.

He wanted so badly to tell her that it was him, that he was Chat Noir. He was the partner in crime that always failed at flirting with the most incredible girl he ever met.

Before he realized what he was doing, Adrien leaned in closer to Marinette on the carpet. She turned her head slowly and realized how close he was.

Adrien looked in her beautiful blue eyes leaning in closer, and she let him.

His lips were centimeters from hers now. "Marinette," he said softly, "your eyes are prettier than all the stars in the sky."

And with a soft gasp from her lips, they were kissing. It was a soft, sweet kiss, but it lasted for a good long while. Marinette's heart beat hard in her throat where he was stroking softly. She sat up and he followed her, pulling her closer. His fingers curled in her dark blue-black hair. Her perfect pig-tails undid themselves and became disheveled under his touch.

Marinette lost all her fear if there was any left and dug her fingers into his hair as well. Her soft fingers grabbed and pulled him closer.

He was filled with her smell, vanilla and flowers, and dough. She smelled like heaven and her lips tasted just as sweet.

She parted gently for air and whispered with a heavy breath. "Adrien."

He looked at her and it killed him that he couldn't tell her everything. He had a deep desire to just spill out everything about himself, about Chat Noir, about his family, about everything.

For right now all he could do was kiss her, and that is exactly what he did. He brought her in closer and she kissed him this time. He forgot about whatever it was he was thinking about and could only focus on her. His heart leaped and stayed in his throat as they kissed each other hard under a shooting star.

... ... ...

Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter! Sorry, it was a little late, I'm working on some midterm assignments.

I added a tiny line referring to the Origins episode if you noticed that. With upcoming chapters I will keep them as up to date with the episodes as long as it matches with the infrastructure of this story.

One last thing, guys. Come support me on ! It's a donations website where you can donate as little as a dollar to support me and my fanfiction writing self. If you don't, it's okay, the stories will continue but it would be largely appreciated as it helps with college a lot.

Since I can't add links on here (boo) here's how to find me.

Just go on . com and search my username: Pinkmochiprincess (my icon is the girl drinking tea.) Thanks so much guys!

Stay miraculous!


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